Classroom Magic

A moment in this morning's AP Lit class, and there is more to this picture than immediately meets the eye. The kids are working on a dynamic Life of Pi bulletin board. The girl to the right, Leeann, told me she was a little bleary-eyed because her parents had taken her to a Springsteen concert last night, and she didn't get home until 1:30. Lucky girl with great parents. She aspires to be a writer so I gave her a book of mine on writing. I am beginning the process of giving my stuff away, and what better place than with these brilliant, beautiful kids. The board on the right has our quote of the week, this one from the movie "Dead Poets Society", and Robin Williams character: "...that the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?" All the while, I had a sweet Radio Paradise groove going, a tune we used to groove to years ago: The Allman Brothers' "Dreams".

"Just one more mornin'
I had to wake up with the blues
Pulled myself outta bed, yeah
Put on my walkin' shoes,
Went up on the mountain,
To see what I could see,
The whole world was fallin',
Right down in front of me."

A sweet groove then and today, but as I write this I am listening to Deuter's "Earth Shadow", a sad, but beautiful piece that makes me think about leaving this chaotic, beautiful world of teaching. It will be tough. I have to turn it over to the Leeanns of the world, and let them inspire a new generation. I wish we could supply a soundtrack with our Blip writings - I think Deuter's piece works perfectly.